The invention proceeds from a device and a method for determining the electrical start rotor angle from the generic type of independent claims. In the article “Detection of the starting rotor angle of a pmsm at standstill”, C. Brunotte, W. Schumacher, EPE/97, pages 1250 to 1253, a procedure for determining the electrical starting rotor angle is described. For this purpose, a permanent-magnet synchronous motor is subjected to a sinusoidal current of 500 Hz. To determine the electrical rotor angle, the spectrum is detected from an established current. From the saturation effects and the resulting asymmetries of the current path, the position of the coil-equipped stator of the synchronous motor in respect of the rotor equipped with permanent magnets can be determined. For example by way of a Fast-Fourier transformation, the coefficient of the second harmonic of the spectrum is determined from the measured current path. This coefficient of the second harmonic is then a measure of the electrical rotor angle.